Green Bridge may become Highwayman painting

Many are the landscapes that have been painted by the Florida Highwaymen.

The black artists' inspired work from the 1950s to the 1980s captured scenery associated with Old Florida and will be displayed at the Palmetto Historical Park and Manatee County Agricultural Museum.

Back country marshes at sunset.

Thunderheads over interior plains.

Moonlight streaming through forests of palm trees.

Such were the landscapes they painted from along Florida's east coast between Vero Beach and their native Fort Pierce.

Now a part of Manatee County will be painted by one of those original 26 painters, whose handiwork dates back to segregation.

Diane Ingram, the museum coordinator, sent Highwayman Robert L. Lewis a photo of the Green Bridge with its palm trees from the Palmetto side of the Manatee River looking toward downtown Bradenton.

If all goes according to plan, Lewis will bring it with him when he and fellow Highwaymen visit the exhibit in mid-July.


Read more about the Florida Highwaymen Thursday on Bradenton.com.